SANTA CLARA — The NFL’s softest schedule awaits. Upgrades are coming to a still star-laden roster. Year 9 is officially loading for 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
Go ahead, dare to envision that sixth Lombardi Trophy. The 49ers are absolutely aiming for Super Bowl LX, held at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026. Home is where next season’s heartbeat is.
Chalk up 2024 as a gap year between Super Bowl appearances, if you’re undeterred by the 49ers’ 30-year championship drought.
More appetizing team history: The 1981 49ers rebounded from a six-win season to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl. Four teams in NFL history have vaulted from last place into a Super Bowl parade: the 1999 St. Louis Rams, the 2001 New England Patriots, the 2009 New Orleans Saints, and the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles.
Worst-case scenario: the Niners get older, more dysfunctional, more snakebit, more miserable, with more fourth-quarter letdowns.
Here are 10 optimistic points for a best-case season:
1. PLEASE PURDY’S POCKETS
Quarterback Brock Purdy wants his contract extension done quickly so he can pilot their offseason program, which starts in mid-April with on-field work beginning in May. “What we know about Brock is that he’s our guy,” Lynch said. “We have interest in Brock being around here for a long, long time.”
Purdy wants to avoid a typical 49ers contract stalemate. He wants no drama. He humbly endorses John Deere tractors, not “Dear John” goodbye threats. “I’ve loved these three years with Brock. I plan on being with Brock here,” Shanahan said, “the whole time I’m here.”
His market is unique. The 49ers remain a perfect match, even if he’s just 13-13 over his last 26 regular-season games, with a giant nod to last season’s playoff comebacks over Green Bay and Detroit.
“This year was tough. But I really do believe I can grow so much from it and grow into the quarterback I want to be. I just turned 25 years old,” said Purdy, who’ll rest his bruised elbow until February.
2. McCAFFREY ON THE MEND
Nothing threw off the 49ers more than Christian McCaffrey’s absence the first two months with Achilles tendinitis. Last season’s NFL rushing king says he’s 100% recovered from that issue, and his knee is “progressing great” from last month’s posterior cruciate ligament injury. He plans to partake in organized team activities, unlike last spring.
He played just 3 ½ games in 2024, or 15.5% of the offensive snaps. After missing 23 games in the 2020-21 seasons, he had 1,880 yards from scrimmage in 2022 for the Panthers and 49ers combined.
“I think we’re all pissed off in the right ways. That’s a good place to be,” McCaffrey said.
3. NFL’S SOFTEST SCHEDULE
The 49ers’ 2025 opponents went a combined 120-169 this season for a .415 win percentage, the NFL’s lowest mark. By virtue of their last-place finish, the 49ers will face three teams who also were division cellar dwellars – the Bears, Giants and Browns – as well as two others who were already in the schedule rotation – the Titans and Panthers.
Home opponents: Rams (10-7), Seahawks (10-7), Arizona Cardinals (8-9), Atlanta Falcons (8-9), Carolina Panthers (5-12), Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13), Tennessee Titans (3-14), Chicago Bears (5-12).
Away opponents: Rams, Seahawks, Cardinals, Tampa Bay Bucs (10-7), Houston Texans (10-7), Indianapolis Colts (8-9), New Orleans Saints (5-12), New York Giants (3-14), Cleveland Browns (3-14).
No team had a better record than the 10-7 mark of the Rams, Bucs, Texans, and Seahawks.
4. REVAMPED DEFENSE
Nick Sorensen’s ouster as defensive coordinator clears the way for a new man in charge and new twists to a stale, predictable system. While Shanahan vows “I love the scheme,” he said he won’t be handcuffed to it. He also emphasized that Sorensen was dealt a tough hand by player injuries.
“I’m not saying you’ve got to change schemes, but you have to have the ability, the history and the knowledge of how to change some stuff up when you’re in some certain situations,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers’ front seven was overhauled this season with only Nick Bosa and Fred Warner as returning incumbents. New pieces either didn’t fit or produce well enough – or simply walked off the job in linebacker De’Vondre Campbell’s case. The impending influx of talent better include a young pass rusher, a stud defensive tackle and a reliable linebacker to team with Warner if Dre Greenlaw leaves in free agency.
5. SPECIAL TEAMS REBOUND
The 49ers cannot get worse on special teams, not with the variance of issues that plagued their season beyond Jake Moody missing nine of 20 field-goal attempts after an ankle injury.
Brian Schneider is out after three seasons, so a new coordinator will operate a unit that could have a new kicker, punter and core players.
Shanahan and Lynch insisted the 49ers do not downplay the importance of special teams. Sure, they spent a third-round pick on Moody and brought in an All-Pro cover guy in George Odum, but there have been myriad issues. The coverage units allowed two fake punt conversions, not to mention that Moody and his replacement Matthew Wright had to make tackles that injured them.
Shanahan said losing Moody and punter Mitch Wishnowsky to injuries compounded the 49ers’ woes. “That was unfair to Brian and a tough situation to put him in. But I do think it’s an avenue we can get better in,” Shanahan said.
6. BOSA’S REST & RECOVERY
Bosa often speaks the truth, and as a team captain, he said the 49ers will reap “huge” benefits from an early offseason. They’re out of the playoffs for only the second time since 2019, Bosa’s rookie season.
“We kind of needed it as a team. It’s definitely a grind,” Bosa said. “(The playoffs) are only one more month, but adding another month on top of what you’ve already done feels like three months.”
Bosa felt he was hitting his stride despite an oblique injury when the 49ers were 5-4 and leading the Seahawks. Then he hurt his other oblique, the 49ers lost that game and seven of their last eight.
Time now for the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year to rest up for a bounce-back year. “I’ve learned how to rest more and just take time off the field,” Bosa said. “I like to lift so I’ll be in the gym. I don’t like to get too far out of shape, because I’ll feel bad mentally. I won’t be sedentary but I’ll be chilling a little bit.”
7. WIDE RECEIVERS GALORE
Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall were the 49ers’ starting wide receivers in Week 18, and that wouldn’t be such a bad tandem to open 2025. But Brandon Aiyuk’s ACL comeback could be cleared for takeoff by then, making a nifty trio.
Jennings came 25 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season before getting ejected for brawling the Cardinals’ secondary. Pearsall overcame an Aug. 31 gunshot through his chest and finished his rookie season with 210 yards and two touchdowns over the final two games. Aiyuk will be a year removed from the distracting drama of his contract pursuit.
What of Deebo Samuel? He’s under contract, and while that doesn’t preclude the 49ers from trading him, he doesn’t seem as much a necessity as years past, all due respect to one of the 49ers’ best receivers the past 25 years.
Look for more wide receivers to catch for Purdy’s passes, such as Isaiah Hodgins and Russell Gage, who signed reserve deals ahead of Ronnie Bell.
Purdy’s best target of them all: tight end George Kittle, who will require a sizeable contract extension rather than play out the final season of his deal. “I want to be a Niner for my entire career, wear the red and gold,” he said. “Whatever the front office wants to do, I’m all ears.”
8. ROOKIES BAPTIZED
The 49ers’ rookie class was a pleasant surprise in a most disturbing season. Right guard Dominick Puni started all but one snap, while the 49ers also got encouraging moments from Pearsall, cornerback Renardo Green, safety Malik Mustapha, running back Isaac Guerendo, punt returner Jacob Cowing, linebacker Tatum Bethune and defensive tackle Evan Anderson.
“The lifeblood of your organization needs to be strong drafts because it gives you young players that you have under contract,” Lynch said.
Lynch expects to have 10 picks in April’s draft and hopes to find gems like Puni.
“We were 6-11, but I know what kind of team we can be,” Puni said. “I’m not too worried going into next year. I’ve been watching these guys even when I was in college, watching them ball out. The superstars we have here are going to take care of a lot of work.”
9. HEALTHY UP
Injuries happen, but the 49ers sure had more than their share of odd ones: Pearsall getting shot a week before the season opener, Samuel being hospitalized postgame with pneumonia, linebacker Curtis Robinson tearing an ACL running in punt coverage in Week 4 practice. Heck, veteran center Pat Elfein sustained a season-ending calf injury 15 minutes into his camp debut.
All 18 players who went on injured reserve should be capable of suiting up for the season opener.
If McCaffrey and Aiyuk aren’t the most notable, then it’s left tackle Trent Williams, who missed the last seven games with a bruised ankle joint. “The good news is it’s taken a positive turn,” Lynch said. “Trent’s mindset is where it always is and he’s still very interested in being a great player that he is. And I think he’s still got a lot left in the tank.”
10. HOME SUPER BOWL
At the 49ers’ expense in the NFC Championship Game, the 2021 Rams became the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl on its home field.
Thirteen months from now, the 49ers could be playing for the Lombardi Trophy at Levi’s Stadium, their third Super Bowl appearance since 2019 under Shanahan. The coach didn’t utter a word about it Wednesday, not when he was there to explain a 6-11 season. That was not the time to remind everyone how, in 2019, his 49ers rebounded from a 4-12 season to open 8-0 and reach the Super Bowl.
Cornerback Charvarius Ward charted the 2025 49ers’ Super Bowl path, even though he likely won’t be part of it as he heads for free agency. “I definitely feel this is an anomaly for the Niners. It won’t be a year like this again,” Ward said Monday. “They’ll have a high draft pick (No. 11 overall), and next year everybody will come in motivated and hungry. They might be playing in the Super Bowl in Santa Clara next year.”
